With early voting for the November 2014 election coming up next month, the Harris County Clerk's election division has released early voting poll locations, several of which have changed in the Cy-Fair area.

Early voting will no longer be available at Jersey Village City Hall. Voters in Jersey Village will be asked to vote at the Lone Star College Fairbanks Center, 14955 Hwy. 290 in Houston.

The location was moved to the Fairbanks Center after an evaluation process that took into account a variety of factors, including the amount of space, available parking and accessibility, said Hector DeLeon, director of voter outreach with the Harris County clerk's office.

Jersey Village Mayor Rod Erskine said he was disappointed to see the location moved out of Jersey Village, but acknowledged the county did its part to give the city proper advanced notification.

"In June we got a request asking if we would dedicate the main part of the civic center for early voting instead of the back room, which we've used for every other election," Erskine said. "That wasn't feasible because we have courts we hold in that room every week and we would've had to postpone or cancel our city council meeting, so we declined."

Erskine said the county clerk's office did not provide a specific reason for why the location was moved and he is still not entirely sure himself.

"There is no evidence that the room we've been using isn't big enough," he said. "There's never been a problem with space."

Earlier this year, Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart reached out to Jersey Village city officials in regards to a city ordinance that required a person to pay $15 for a permit to post campaign signs on city property. Stanart said the ordinance, as it was written, could result in the polling location being moved from the city because of free speech concerns.

City officials worked with Stanart to come up with a way to amend the ordinance so the city could keep its polling location. At a special meeting in April, Jersey Village City Council voted to amend the ordinance by changing the $15 fee into a $15 deposit to be refunded after the signs were removed from city property. The idea, Erskine said, was to give people an incentive to pick up their signs, which were often left for the city to deal with.

At the time, Erskine said it was a fair compromise—it was in line with Stanart's requirements while also addressing resident concerns about abandoned signs becoming an eyesore. Officials with the county clerk's office said the amended ordinance did not play into why the location was moved.

A second new early voting location has also been added to service growing residential populations in Cypress. The recently constructed Richard and Meg Weekley Community Center at 8440 Greenhouse Road will be open in time for early voting.

Early voting locations at Cypress Top Park—26026 Hempstead Highway, Cypress—and at the Prairie View A&M northwest campus—9449 Grant Road, Houston—will be open to voters as well. Jersey Village City Hall, at 16327 Lakeview Drive, is still listed as an Election Day voting location.

Early voting in Harris County for the Nov. 4 election lasts from Oct. 20–Oct. 31 at the following times:

Oct. 20–Oct. 24: 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Oct. 25: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.

Oct. 26: 1–6 p.m.

Oct. 27–Oct. 31: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.